


Getting Lucky

by adrianna_m_scovill



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Birthday Presents, Books, F/M, Fluff, Hidden Talents, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29422539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrianna_m_scovill/pseuds/adrianna_m_scovill
Summary: The prompt: Barba is secretly a bestselling children's book author
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson
Comments: 13
Kudos: 114
Collections: Barson Valentine's Day Collection 2021





	Getting Lucky

Barba had made himself comfortable on the sofa in Benson’s office: jacket removed and laid over the armrest, sleeves rolled up and tie loosened, knees spread as he slouched against the cushions. He was scrolling through messages on his phone, showing no intention of leaving.

“You have a lot of free time these days,” she remarked, peering over her glasses at him, and he made a small sound of amusement without looking up from his phone. 

There was a quick knock on her half-open door and then Carisi appeared, pushing the door wider to lean partway inside. “Hey, Liv,” he said, walking all the way in at her gesture. She took off her glasses and set them on her desk, giving the former detective her full attention. “I didn’t—” He stopped when he caught sight of Barba, doing a quick double-take as he noted the former ADA’s casual posture. “Barba,” he said in acknowledgement.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Barba asked, glancing up at Carisi and ignoring Benson’s exasperated look.

Carisi glanced between Barba and Benson. “Am I interrupting? I can—”

Finally setting down his phone, Barba looked at Carisi. “I’m merely trying to determine if I need to leave.”

“Oh. I don’t—It’s not about a case.”

“Good.” Barba picked up his phone and resumed staring at the screen.

“Ignore him,” Benson told Carisi. “So, no luck?”

“Sorry, I couldn’t find it. Went to four different bookstores, three sold out their supply already and one never got a shipment.”

“It’s only been out since Tuesday,” Benson said, leaning back in her chair, and Barba glanced up at the frustration in her voice. 

“Limited release, makes it more desirable.”

“It’s the fifth book in the series, it would’ve been a bestseller. All she’s doing is making less money for herself.”

“Sorry, what’re we talking about?” Barba asked.

“I wanted a book for Noah’s birthday but we can’t find a copy anywhere.” Benson pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment. “I should’ve just ordered it online. Now it’s too late, his party’s tonight.”

“You have a junior ADA running around the city looking for a birthday present?” Barba asked, mostly to needle Carisi.

“Actually, it was supposed to be my gift to Noah,” Carisi said. “I asked what I should get him. But I’ve been a little busy this week and didn’t get a chance before today.”

“I’ll bet,” Barba answered mildly.

Carisi pointed a finger at him. “You need a ride somewhere? I mean you must have a meeting or client or something, right?”

“No thanks, I’ve seen you drive.”

“Funny I’ve never seen you.”

“As much fun as _this_ has been,” Benson said, tenting her fingers on her desk, “I’ll just explain to Noah that I’ll have to order the book. He’s got plenty of presents.”

“What else should I bring instead?” Carisi asked, glancing at Rollins as she sidled past him into the room. “Hey, you didn’t get a copy of the new Lucky book for Jess yet, did you?”

“Naw, I haven’t been able to find one. Why, you got a lead?”

Carisi shook his head. 

“What’s this book?” Barba asked, and Rollins looked back at him.

“It’s this series of kid books, the girls love ‘em.”

“So does Noah,” Benson said. “They’re his favorites. He’s got them all memorized, the first one was actually the first book he learned to read by himself.”

“Who’s the author?” Barba asked.

“Goes by R.A. Beard,” Rollins said with a shrug. “There’s no author info or picture online, it’s all pretty mysterious.”

Barba looked at Benson. “You said ‘she.’”

“Writes like a she,” Carisi said. He held up a hand when Rollins glared at him. “What, I meant it as a compliment.”

“You’re right, I shouldn’t assume,” Benson said. “Regardless of what we do or don’t know about the author, Noah loves the books.”

“I don’t remember, who’d you say got him the first one?” Rollins asked.

“Actually, I don’t know. It was in with the rest of his presents for his fourth birthday but nobody at the party claimed it and there was no name.” Benson sighed and rolled her shoulders. “Just get him anything, Carisi, he’ll be happy. I’ll find the book later. Thanks for trying.”

“Sure thing,” Carisi said, glancing at Barba before turning to leave. Rollins followed him out of the office without mentioning why she’d come in to begin with, and Barba watched them go before looking at Benson.

“So they’re invited to the party but I’m not?” he asked, arching an eyebrow, and she shot him a dirty look as she leaned back in her chair.

“Since when do you need an invitation?”

He made a sound of amusement. 

Then, as if she was worried he didn’t actually know, she added: “Of course you’re invited. I’m sorry if I forgot to say that.”

“I have plans…” He trailed off and cleared his throat. “But I’ll try to swing by,” he said. With regret, he glanced at his watch and shifted forward, beginning the process of eventually getting to his feet. “I should get going.”

“It’s just the squad tonight,” Benson said. “Noah wanted a party with them. On Sunday will be the one with his friends.”

“He wanted double the cake. I can respect that,” Barba answered.

She laughed quietly, and they regarded each other in silence for long moments before she spoke again. “If you can’t make it tonight, you’re welcome to come to dinner tomorrow or the next night. Or whenever.”

He appreciated the invitation to family supper. He didn’t want to sound ungrateful by suggesting they go out, just the two of them. He enjoyed spending time with Noah, and feeling like a member of their family for a few hours. He didn’t want anything _instead_ of that, but he did hope for more... _in addition_.

But, she was at work. It wasn’t the time or place to broach the subject. “That sounds nice,” he said instead, pushing himself off the couch and grimacing as he stretched his back. Before he could say more, Rollins poked her head back into the office.

“Liv, we’ve got a woman out here—”

Barba gathered up his jacket and offered Benson a tilt of his chin before slipping out of the room, leaving her and Rollins to discuss the new case. 

* * * 

“Carisi,” Barba said, lengthening his stride in an attempt to catch up to the other man, but Carisi had already knocked on the apartment door before he turned his head at the sound of Barba’s voice. Barba made a small sound of frustration and held out his free hand, flapping his fingers. “Give me that,” he said, nodding toward the gift in Carisi’s hand as he approached.

Carisi started to lift the package automatically, but his forehead creased into a frown. “What? Why?” 

As soon as he was close enough, Barba snatched the present out of Carisi’s hand and thrust his own—wrapped in silver paper with sparkly blue ribbon and a perfect bow, in contrast to Carisi’s messily-wrapped red package—into the former detective’s other hand. 

“What—” Carisi said, looking down at the gift.

“Trust me,” Barba said, glad to note Carisi had only written Noah’s name, in Sharpie on the red paper, and not who the present was from. Before Carisi could object further, the apartment door opened and both men looked down into Noah’s smiling face. Barba couldn’t help but grin in return; the boy was wearing a pointed party hat askew in his curls.

“Hi Uncle Rafa! Hi Uncle Sonny!” he exclaimed, widening the door and moving aside so they could enter. He eyed the presents in their hands before calling over his shoulder, “Mom! Uncle Sonny and Raf are here!”

“Invite them in,” she called from somewhere out of sight toward the bedrooms.

“I did!” he yelled back in exasperation before grinning brightly at the two men. “We have cake!” he announced, slamming the door behind them and bounding off toward the living room where Jesse and Billie were playing with dolls on the floor. Rollins was on the sofa, and Carisi went to join her. Fin and Kat were leaning against the counter, both drinking what appeared to be orange juice.

Barba looked to his left as Benson appeared, and she flashed him a smile. “You made it,” she said, sounding genuinely pleased that he’d shown up. 

“I can’t stay.” He was sorry—sorry to say it into her smiling face and even sorrier that it was true. “I have dinner with my mom.” 

Her smile faded, but only a little. Her eyes were warm as she regarded him, and he found himself wondering what she would say if he asked her, right here and now, for an actual date. If he laid his cards at her feet—

“Well, it was short notice,” she said. “I’m glad you could come at all. Noah,” she added, turning toward the living room, “let’s open presents first because Uncle Rafael has to leave soon.”

Barba wanted to object to the schedule being rearranged to accommodate him, but Noah—sitting on his knees on the rug—bounced excitedly and shouted in agreement. Laughing, Benson looked at Barba and touched his arm.

“I’ll get you some cupcakes to go—and some for Lucia?”

“Are you going to ask her if she got any?” 

She laughed again and rolled her eyes. “No.”

“Then sure,” he said with a grin. He looked down as Noah hurried over to him and held out his hands, and Barba handed him the messy, somewhat squishy red package. 

“Thanks!” Noah exclaimed, rushing back into the living room where the rest of his presents had been piled on the rug. Carisi was perched on the edge of the sofa, leaned down as he worked to keep Billie from tearing into the packages that she clearly thought were meant for her.

Fin and Kat moved closer to the living room to watch, and Barba and Benson followed suit. Noah glanced around to make sure all eyes were on him and, grinning broadly, he grabbed up the silver and blue package and ripped half the paper off before anyone could say anything.

His eyes lit up as he saw the cover of the new Lucky book, and he tore the rest of the paper away to quickly open the book. “Thanks, Uncle Sonny!” he exclaimed. “Mom, look!”

Benson shot Carisi a questioning look, but Carisi was looking at Barba. Barba ignored him, watching instead as Noah flipped open the cover of the hardcover children’s book. 

“Hey, someone wrote in it,” Noah said as he saw the ink inside the cover. 

“An inscription,” Benson said, moving closer to see. “What’s it say?”

Noah peered at the writing for a moment, struggling to decipher the handwriting. “Um. I can’t…” He looked at Carisi. “What’s it say?”

“It’s signed by the author,” Carisi realized aloud, casting Barba another quick glance before leaning over to read the inscription. “It says, ‘For Noah, who’s every bit as inspiring as Lucky. Happy birthday.’ And a little heart, and the signature.”

“Cool!” Noah said, turning to the first page of the story, oblivious to the looks the adults around him were exchanging. Barba continued to ignore them all, watching with a somewhat bemused smile as Noah started reading the book—forgetting all about the rest of his presents. “Lucky takes dance lessons, Mom, look,” Noah said, but he sounded distracted as he read.

“Honey, you can read it later, you need to open the rest of your presents. Uncle Rafa needs to leave soon,” Benson reminded her son, and Noah looked up. He reluctantly set the book aside, carefully moving it out of Billie’s reach. 

“Can I read it?” Jesse asked, staring longingly at the book. 

“Later,” Noah said, picking up the red package. He tore it open and stared down at the baseball mitt for several seconds. He looked up at Barba and smiled. “Thanks, Uncle Rafa,” he said politely, and Barba had to smile back despite the kid’s obvious lack of enthusiasm. Noah was a good kid, and a good _hearted_ kid, and even though he’d moved from baseball to dancing he would still make good use of a new mitt. There would be plenty of games of catch. It wasn’t a bad gift.

It simply didn’t compare to the book on the floor, the book that Noah clearly wanted to read _immediately._

“Happy birthday, buddy,” Barba said. “I’m gonna head out but I’ll see you soon, okay.”

“Okay. Bye. Love you!”

The words, tossed out casually as Noah turned his attention to the next present, caught Barba by surprise. Luckily, Noah didn’t seem to be expecting a response as he ripped the paper from Kat’s gift, a remote control dinosaur. 

Barba turned away but Benson caught his arm. “Wait a minute,” she said, and his heart stuttered for a moment. She moved past him toward the kitchen, and he crossed to the door as he realized she’d gone to get him the promised cupcakes. When she returned to him with a tupperware container he could see four colorful cupcakes inside, and he offered her a smile as he took them with a murmured thanks.

“Talk soon,” he promised, shooting one last glance toward the living room before letting himself out of the apartment.

* * *

He wasn’t entirely surprised to find her on his doorstep, even though it was fairly late. He’d gotten home from dinner an hour ago, and he’d changed into sweats and an old t-shirt. At the sound of her knock, he let her into the apartment and went automatically to pour drinks.

He’d figured Carisi would tell her about the gift exchange. Barba had expected a call or text to question him, but he wasn’t unhappy to see her. Even if she ended up being angry. She wasn’t yet, so far as he could tell.

“Hungry?” Barba asked as he poured wine into two glasses. “I’ve got leftovers from dinner.”

“No. Thank you,” she said, taking a glass of wine when he handed it to her. “The similarities were always almost eerie,” she said, and he knew exactly what she meant even though she’d given no context. “The little cub, Lucky León, found abandoned in a box in an alley by two cops—a wolf named Magdalene, and a pitbull named Peaches.”

He hummed as he headed toward the living room, the sound polite but noncommittal. She followed him and sat beside him on his sofa.

“The wise owl judge gives Lucky to Magdalene—Mag—to raise and he becomes Lucky Wolfson. All the characters, Mag’s squad...Peaches...Claw, the jaguar...Nicholas Canedoro, the golden retriever who asks everyone to call him Goldie…”

She waited, but he didn’t answer.

“It was like the books were customized to Noah. All the people he recognizes. Lucky’s even starting to get a curly mane. And now he’s dancing?”

“It was never supposed to get so...out of hand,” Barba said with a sigh. “The books were supposed to be for him, so he could see himself, be proud…How was I supposed to know people would keep buying them?”

“They’re very good, you must know that.”

“The world is full of good books,” he said, glancing away. “I never meant to use your story, his story, to profit off—”

“So you are admitting you wrote them? You’re R.A. Beard? I should’ve figured it out, it’s literally your name. And all the characters, it’s so obvious.” She paused, regarding him as he looked into his wine. “And you weren’t buying all those expensive suits on only an ADA salary.”

“Most of the profits went into a college fund for Noah.”

“What?”

“Obviously I spent some, I won’t say I didn’t. But it just kept getting bigger and bigger and now it’s less of a college fund and more of a trust fund. It’ll be handed over to you to control whenever you want.” He turned his head to look at her. “The longer I waited, the harder it was to find a way to tell you. I should’ve asked your permission, my intentions don’t matter—”

“You think I’m angry?”

“I think you have a right to be.”

“Rafael,” she said, laying her hand on his arm, “you have no idea how much those books have helped him. He can recite them all by heart because they mean something to him, he sees himself in them. You gave him the first one, too, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t lie. You never technically asked me.”

“I’m not upset, I’m...I don’t know, I shouldn’t still be surprised by all the ways you impress me.”

He blinked, unsure how to respond, unsure he’d even be able to speak past the sudden and unexpected lump in his throat. 

“You’re the porcupine lawyer, Harvard Espinoso,” she realized. “It’s all so obvious now.”

“Are you saying I’m prickly?” he asked in a small attempt at a joke. He chewed the inside of his cheek, fighting the urge to squirm under her heavy appraisal. “I have extra copies, for Jesse, for anyone you—”

“In the next book, does Harvey the lawyer come over for dinner with Mag and Lucky?”

He swallowed and touched his tongue to his lower lip, considering. “I haven’t planned another one yet.” He paused. “What do you think of Harvey and Mag going out on a date?”

“Hmm. I think you might need to write a more...grownup book for that.”

His gaze flicked toward her mouth as she leaned closer, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed again. “How, um. How grownup?”

“We’ll see how the date goes,” she said, and his face split into a grin. 


End file.
